Turnbull adds: “I think telling the stories of the guards' relationships with the dogs is really important as it gives people an idea of what everyday life looks like in the aftermath of a nuclear disaster. But more importantly, the photovoicing technique allowed them to tell their own story, rather than have it depicted by an outsider.”
One of guards noted that his favourite photo was one which showed the dogs being fed leftover food, and another said, “I made a house […] for the dogs to have a place to hide from snow and rain.” What is shown here is the hospitality given to the dogs by the guards despite a worker noting “they are not our dogs personally.”
A guard with the two dogs living at his checkpoint. Image credit: Jonathon Turnbull/Chernobyl Guards
A guard with the two dogs living at his checkpoint. Image credit: Jonathon Turnbull/Chernobyl Guards
The dogs’ “wildness” and “territoriality” is discussed by the guards, too, with the shop worker noting that “the dogs get jealous when new dogs arrive,” and that they will fiercely defend their territory. Yet another guard asks, “why are they wild?” He paints a picture that could be seen in homes with dogs across the world: “they live here, they communicate with tourists […] they even learned commands from an early age.” The same guard went on to point out that if the dogs were indeed wild, they could run away and live elsewhere at any time, yet they choose not to.
The dogs seem to have a choice, and that choice is to stay close to food, shelter and company.
Dogs sleep and take shelter in abandoned buildings and structures. Image credit: Jonathon Turnbull/Chernobyl Guards
Dogs sleep and take shelter in abandoned buildings and structures. Image credit: Jonathon Turnbull/Chernobyl Guards
While the landscape will remain inhabitable for potentially up to 20,000 years, it is clear that for some of the guards and workers in the Zone, the dogs provide something resembling a sense of home and normality in what has been described as an “apocalyptic Eden.”
The Zone itself has iconic status within popular culture and has become a tourist destination for those wanting to see the abandoned city of Pripyat. The dogs themselves have now become quite the attraction, too, gaining large followers on social media sites such as Instagram. During the COVID-19 lockdown, the dogs were livestreamed to paying customers on Airbnb to much success.
